What's your secret ingredient?

[Kinsters]

I made a bolognese this morning and had an aubergine that needed using so roasted it then blended it up with the tomatoes. It added a lovely richness to the sauce.

What's your secret ingredient?

red pepper flakes - I add them to a lot of dishes but especially ragu and tomato sauces.

Also put in a rind from parmesan

I add anchovies to beef casserole when I am frying the onions.

After reading a weaning recipe I've grated apple into my bolengaise instead of salt and sugar a few times and it's nice.

I add allspice and thyme to my beef stews and that's sooo good.

Worcestershire sauce in shepherds pie.

I thought that was an essential part of the recipe??

Sweet chilli sauce in my Spag Bol

Fried and sieved chicken liver in gravy. It has to be properly sieved and creamed to remove all the grainy bits and tubes.

A dash of sweet soy sauce.

Bit of finely chopped beetroot as well as onion and carrot.

It's not an ingredient, it's the process: properly browned mince, slowly caramelised sofrito base and cook for an absolute minimum of 90mins.

Spoonful of sugar, Worcester sauce and small squirt of HP & ketchup.

Brandy in shepherd's pie.

Celery, or celery salt at a push. It really adds depth of flavour.

I love chunky vegetable soup but the family says it looks like dishwater. So to make the base liquid more creamy and appetizing I add a whole peeled potato and mash it in at the end.
Jamie Oliver tip.

Soy sauce.
It just makes it.

Mushroom ketchup

Red wine stock pots
Worcester sauce
Pinch of sugar .

Not really a secret but I started doing that trick of adding a few dollops of pasta water to the sauce and it really does make a difference

I agree with @ZenNudist that process is the most important bit!

Diced courgettes, wine, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar.

½ a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar

A slice of black pudding- chopped up really finely it basically disintegrates.

You can’t taste it, but you can definitely taste when it’s not there.

Also, time, however long you think you need to cook it, double it.

The best bolognese I ever make is the one that’s started during my lunch break and cooks until 8pm.

I add Marmite to most long slow cook meat dishes like stew , curry, spag bol, ( and some veggie ones )
Jars of salsa (the type you would dip crisps in ) are a really good short cut to making a quick tasty pasta dish , just fry a bit of veg , peppers , onions, mushrooms, corn peas etc and pour over about half a jar per person and warm through then pour over cooked pasta , dinner can be ready in less than 15 mins !

Chorizo chopped up small can be added to many dishes ( inc the one above ) to add a bit more body and texture

Anchovies in savoury slow-cooked meat dishes, especially lamb.

More butter than you would imagine.

I put in a tablespoon each of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and red wine vinegar. But the most important thing Is to let it sit for at least 40 mins as it lets the meat tenderise (even better when eaten the next day).

Frozen fresh cut basil and thyme so much nicer than dried (I also add dried oregano and a few bay leaves)

If making a curry lots of salt really does bring out the flavour and fry the spices for sometime

I use MSG too. I got given some and was worried about using it. But I did some research into it and concluded it was safe. I've also cut down massively on my salt intake since using it.